Week Three Status & Secret Mission

Heading into my third week of recovery, I’ve made steady progress. The doctor chose not to start me out with physical therapy until around 3.5 weeks of recovery, so that’ll be the next phase.

The first hurdle was pain management, which was not too bad. Every day it has gotten better. One unexpected challenge I had to deal with was an unknown bandage allergy. My reaction to the bandages had actually broken the skin, and for awhile, they hurt more than the surgery wound.

As of right now it is not too painful, more just sore. They intentionally fractured my hip joint during surgery, so for now pain medicine is about all I can take. I’ve been taking less and less, and expect that once the fracture has healed enough for anti-inflammatories, I won’t have to take anymore pain meds. Even today, it hurts less than it did at most times during the last year and a half. I’m confident that this injury is healing properly and will finally be behind me.

For week three, I will be heading to the West Coast for a secret mission. I cannot say what it is, but I can say that it is awesome, not cycling related, and at some point I will probably blog about it anyway. The only thing I’ll say is that we will meet a celebrity, someone who everybody knows, but I cannot say anything other than that.

We learned about this secret mission trip just prior to surgery. The timing was not perfect, but this was something we could not pass up. We even considered delaying surgery just to accommodate this, but in hindsight, I’m glad we didn’t. The worry was having me sitting in the same, uncomfortable position for a few hours on a plane. Now that I’ve healed ahead of schedule, I’m not nearly as worried.

I had been in the dark as for everything that happened during surgery, but I’ve since spoken with the doctor’s office and seen the surgery report. The report even said that I was a pleasant patient, which meant that I was flirting with the nurses. My wife reminded me of that. It also said that everything else went fine.

I’m still on crutches at least through physical therapy. This is more to keep my weight off the hip since there is a fracture. It needs to heal. Aside from that, life has been mostly back to normal. I have been driving again. My stitches have been removed. I am cleared to return to work on Monday, but that will be delayed because of this secret mission. Physical therapy will begin the week after my return, and they will gradually wean me down to one crutch and eventually none.

All in all, I’m encouraged with my progression. I feel far better than before the injury, and I can see the end in sight. PT will most likely include some easy cycling and I could see myself back on the bike before long. I’ll miss a lot of spring events, but if I continue to heal at this rate, I should be healthy enough to have some fun in summer and fall.

As for the secret mission, I cannot say a word, but I also cannot wait.